Montgomery County, MD – Years of organizing for tenants’ rights has shifted power and pushed forward the historic passage of rent stabilization in Montgomery County. On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council voted 7-4 to approve the state’s first county-wide, permanent rent stabilization bill. When signed into law by County Executive Marc Elrich on Monday morning, Bill 15-23 will limit rent increases to 3 percent plus the measure of inflation consumer price index (CPI), with a maximum cap of 6 percent. The final bill includes much-needed vacancy control, allows regulation for the charging of “additional fees,” and includes all housing types.
Organizations in the movement issued the following statement:
“A years-long renter-led campaign for rent stabilization has won, and won big! We’re proud to have built a movement that pushed Montgomery County to adopt a historic tenant justice policy, reflecting our values of care, equity, and justice.
“Our movement centered the needs of renters. Renters inspired this multi-year campaign, co-created legislation, fought hard for their rights, and won. Close to forty percent of Montgomery County residents are renters; while far from perfect, with a rate higher than the 3% cap that advocates originally pushed for, the final bill will protect hundreds of thousands of tenants from skyrocketing rents. No longer can predatory landlords displace tenants in order to raise the rent higher than reasonable.
“We look forward to working with the council and executive branch to enforce, monitor, and improve this legislation, and to continue to work for affordable housing with all the tools we have available. The fight for housing justice will not end until everyone has a safe, dignified, and stable home. Thank you to Councilmembers Fani-González, Glass, Jawando, Katz, Mink, Sayles, and Stewart for voting in favor of housing affordability: together we look to a future that acts on our county’s stated values and enables working families to thrive.”
Organizations issuing the statement are:
1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
Action in Montgomery (AIM)
African Communities Together (ACT)
Anakbayan MoCo
Ask the Climate Question (ACQ)
Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
CASA
Everyday Canvassing
Francophone Africans Alliance
Jews United for Justice
Impact Silver Spring
LiUNA Local 11
Maryland Poor People’s Campaign
MoCo 350
MoCo Pride Center
Montgomery County BIPOC Green New Deal Internship
Montgomery County Branch of the NAACP
Montgomery County Democratic Socialists of America
Montgomery County Education Association
Montgomery County Green New Deal for Social Housing
Montgomery County Racial Equity (MORE) Network
Our Revolution Montgomery County
Progressive Maryland
Renters United Maryland (RUM)
SEIU Local 500
Shepherd’s Table
Sunrise Movement Silver Spring
The Renters Alliance
Transit Alternatives to Midcounty Highway Extended (TAME) Coalition
Trans Maryland
UFCW 1994, MCGEO
United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400
Unitarian Universalist Cedar Lane Environmental Justice Ministry
UNITE HERE! Local 23
UNITE HERE! Local 25
Young People for Progress
Our movement centered the needs of renters. Renters inspired this multi-year campaign, co-created legislation, fought hard for their rights, and won rent stabilization in Montgomery County, Maryland.
